Over 100 Pizza Cup Competitors Sliced and Diced Down to 32; Dark Horses Abound
The proverbial pie has just gotten much, much smaller, with 100 competitors being cut to a mere 32 in this year's first round of Pizza Cup voting.
This was an intense first divide indeed, with veterans taking all 32 slots and blocking all of 2017's newly opened pizza shops from making it into the round (see a list of those freshly-opened joints here; we wish them better luck next year). That's no small consolation, seeing as some serious dark horses rocketed into this round, performing way above their rankings last year.
Among those surprise upshots were a handful that were obviously buoyed by their participation in Pizza Fest '17: Pizza Factory, which is now the third seed in Bracket D, a major improvement over their 64th-place finish last year; also Frost (last year's #78), Eudora Station (#84), and VSports (#51) all fought their way into the top 32. The slices they slung at our packed-out festival last weekend surely helped the venues secure more of a name for themselves among voters.
The top seeds, meanwhile, contain fewer surprises and include last year's winner Bottega (#1 in Bracket A), popular local chain Tube Station (top in Bracket B), previous Pizza Cup winners Gung Ho (sitting atop Bracket C), and long-running local chain Kro's Nest (the highest seed in Bracket D).
Bracket A looks to be this year's veritable "Group of Death," given that it's home to heavy-hitters like Bottega, Pizza Saporita (formerly Pizza+), Q Mex, Yummy Box (whose deep-dish pies were a big hit at this year's fest), among others. Six of that bracket's eight competitors ranked in the 2016 Pizza Cup's Top 20, including overall defending champ Bottega.
To ensure your favorite makes it to the next round, cast your ballot:
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2017's Pizza Cup Round of 32 Ballot
Aside from counting votes, we also gleaned some other crucial information about Beijingers' pizza-eating habits. For example, here is a ranking of the top five beverages you commonly slurp to wash your slices down:
1. Beer (44 percent of voters)
2. Carbonated soft drinks (26 percent of voters)
3. Juice (18 percent of voters)
4. Iced tea (17 percent of voters)
5. Wine (16 percent of voters)
The stats have also helped us determine who among you are the true pizza lovers, with the average voter having eaten more than seven different brands, and a full 30 percent having chowed down on 10 or more brands in the capital.
This group as a whole dines out 26 times a month and orders pizza in eight times a month – meaning they choose pizza 31 percent of the time when dining out/ordering in meals. Now that's the sort of dedication we love to see.
Though our Pizza Fest was held in Wangjing, close to spots like Pie Squared and Yummy Box, our Pizza Cup voters are decidedly Chaoyang-centric. Here is a breakdown of where our voters dwell:
1. Chaoyang (56 percent)
2. Haidian (18 percent)
3. Dongcheng/Xicheng (12 percent)
4. Shunyi (5 percent)
5. Everywhere else (a combined <9 percent)
Interesting as that is, we all know what numbers are most crucial: the votes. So, be sure to debate your favorites with fellow pizza die-hards between now and the end of Round of 32, which closes at noon on September 28!
